Locke, John

John Locke was a 17th-century philosopher whose ideas greatly influenced modern thinking about government and human rights. He believed that people are born with natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Locke argued that governments should protect these rights and that they derive their authority from the consent of the governed. If a government fails to do so or becomes oppressive, citizens have the right to overthrow it. His ideas laid the groundwork for democratic principles and the modern concepts of individual freedoms and limited government.